‘The rankest thing on the planet’: Feds launch probe into RFK Jr. over dead whale carcass
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed Monday that they are investigating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for an incident involving the alleged decapitation of a dead whale carcass.
NOAA is investigating Kennedy for allegedly decapitating a dead whale carcass and transporting its head home nearly two decades ago, according to CNN. A NOAA spokesperson confirmed to CNN that there is an investigation but declined to provide further comments, citing the agency’s policy of not discussing open investigations.
After Kennedy suspended his presidential campaign in August and endorsed former President Donald Trump, the incident resurfaced due to a 2012 interview with his daughter, Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy, in Town & Country Magazine that recently appeared again on social media. In the interview, she described an episode where her father used a chainsaw to sever the head of a dead whale on a beach near their family home in Cape Cod and transported it to New York.
RFK Jr. confirms he is under investigation for ‘collecting a whale specimen’ https://t.co/dkzvnIQHG6 pic.twitter.com/U3NrMoEyk3
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) September 16, 2024
“Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on the planet,” Kick told the magazine. “We all had plastic bags over our heads with mouth holes cut out, and people on the highway were giving us the finger, but that was just normal day-to-day stuff for us.”
Following the public scrutiny, the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund urged NOAA to look into Kennedy’s actions, and argued that they might have compromised scientific research, CNN stated. In response, Kennedy said that he has never killed a whale, NBC News reported.
“I received a letter from the National Marine Fisheries Institute saying that they were investigating me for collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago,” Kennedy said during a campaign event for former President Donald Trump, NBC News reported. “This is all about the weaponization of our government against political opponents.”
NOAA and Kennedy did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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